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JOUENAL OF HOBTICTJLTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ June 20, 1871. 



the plants of the county in his ' Nottinghamshire Flora.' William 

 Valentine, with his superior microscopic knowledge, took np the Mosses ; 

 and that Talnable work, the ' Muscologia Nottinghamensis ' was com- 

 menced by Howitt and Valentine. Following Valentine was Mr. 

 Cooper, who compiled a list of the plants of Snssex ; he received a 

 silver medal from the London Botanical Society. And last, but not 

 least, was the late lamented Dr. Mitchel, a very dear friend of the 

 writer. The plants of this Cemetery will not be so subject to change 

 as those of the neighbourhood, where railways, drainage, and other 

 extensive works, have so strangely altered the botanical fields." 



" Sleek-head " then recommended big four " Fellows " to 

 Tisit Highfield House, the fernery and observatory of which 

 have been rendered celebrated by their favourably known owner, 

 B. J. Lowe, E?q. He also recommended them to journey fur- 

 ther, and revel among the Eose3 of the Eev. Eejnolds Hole at 

 Caunton Manor, near Newark, and he very truly observed that 

 there is a vigour in the tree-life of Nottinghamshire which 

 one looks for in vain round London ; in its famed forest of 

 Sherwood, which at one lime formed part of a vast tract of 

 forest land extending from Nuttingham to York, there are Oaks 

 which must have been old in the days when Eobin Hood and 

 his " merrie men" feasted unbii3den guests on the king's deer, 

 and tempest-torn and storm-beaten some of them yet remain, 

 majestic even in their decay. There are Oaks younger, but 

 still old — very old, that are clad in verdure on each returning 

 spring, giving evidence by their hale, hearty old age of a well- 

 spent youth, and which, if tbey escape the woodman's axe, will 

 endure for centuries still. But though the limits of the ancient 

 forest have been much circumscribed — and it is well in the 

 interest of cultivation that it should be so — though it has been 

 shorn of many of its ancient ornaments and much of its former 

 pride, it yet covers e vast tract of land, and one may wander 

 through its green glades for hours undisturbed by sight or 

 Bound of man. Out of it have arisen those great seats of gar- 

 dening, Welbeck and Thoresby, and others of less extent, but 

 of scarcely less note. That the natural conditions in which 

 man is placed have a great influence on his mental and physical 

 tendencies cannot be doubted, and it may be questioned whether 

 the vigour of Nottinghamshire plant-life has not to some extent 

 at least been a predisposing cause of that love of gardening 

 which is so general in that ehire. At the places we have 

 named gardening is carried out on a princely scale, and by 

 gardeners who by their energy, intelligence, and varied expe- 

 rience would command success anywhere ; at others, as "Wolla- 

 ton, Berry Hill, Osberton, Worksop, and many more that could 

 be enumerated, things are not carried out on so grand a scale, 

 but the reputation of those entrusted with the management, 

 and the excellence of their productions, are proofs that there 

 also the gardening is of a high order. But there is another class 

 who have no princely gardens, no stately hothouses with acres 

 of glass and miles of piping, whose means are of the smallest, 

 but whose love of the art is of the largest, and that class is the 

 operatives of Nottingham itself. They, too, are great gardeners, 

 and the productions of their gardens would often put to shame 

 those from places of great pretensions. More fortunate than 

 their London brethren tbey have gardens near their homes, 

 and homes within an easy distance of their work ; the London- 

 dwelling man cannot have the one without sacrificing the other, 

 and whichever alternative he accept each has its drawbacks. 

 Railways and tramways are doing much to amend this state of 

 things, but they will have to do much more before every man 

 can have his rod, not rood, of ground. And how much of 

 innocent pleasure, how great an aid that little space of earth is 

 in resisting the temptations to which artisans (tbey call them- 

 selves " working men," but we are all working men, with brain, 

 or hand, or bolb), are but too prone to yield, it would be difficult 

 to overestimate. There is much of heroism in theee humble 

 gardeners — how they have denied themselves creature comfort", 

 nay, even necessaries, for the sake of their favourites, their 

 ardour in the contest, their joy in success, their patience under 

 defeat — all these have bei-n told in our columns, and, if we 

 mistake not, by the Eev. S. Heynolds Hole, himself a Notting- 

 hamshire man, and a very prince among Eoses, in bis most 

 instructive and entertaining " Book about the Rose." There 

 are bright spots in the working man's life — would that they 

 were more frequent ! — and there is, too, a large amount of 

 shadow, but the balance of happiness in all conditions of life, 

 between class and class, and between man and man, is pretty 

 evenly held. The rich man may rejoice over his costly Orchids, 

 his noble Palms, or his luscious fruits ; but to the poor man 

 the Geranium in bis window, the Fuchsia at his door, or the 

 stinted, diminulive, half-acid produce of his out-door Vine, 



gives as much happiness — as much pure happiness — to the 

 household as all the most costly treasures of the hothouse. 

 At the harvesting there is sunshine amidst the clouds that too 

 often overshadow that little community ; and the sunshine 

 would be greater, the clouds fewer, were there more such harvest- 

 ings in our land before the final harvesting when the wheat 

 shall be separated from the chafi. Bat we are sermonising, and 

 have landed in nuhibus — but not elevated by Nottingham ale. 



Nottingham, then, offered a great prospect of success for the 

 first country fhow at which the Eoyal Horticultural Society 

 had, it may almost be said, a separate existence. Horticulture 

 and Agriculture — we name Horticulture first, as it is the elder 

 — are twin sisters ; but it is too often the case that while the 

 one waxes the other wanes. It has been so with Horticulture. 

 Wherever she has had to encounter her more powerful sister 

 she and her pertainings have sunk into nothingness ; and at 

 Nottingham, where the first bold stand has been made, and 

 where she has first assumed her legitimate position, she has 

 been honoured as is her due, and we fear not she will stand in a 

 better and prouder position hereafter. It was anticipated that 

 His Eoyal Highness Prince Arthur would open the Show, and 

 the Eobin Hood Eifles, one of the best-drilled volunteer corps 

 in the kingdom — if not the best — furnished a guard of honour 

 which was not required, as Hie Eoyal Highness could not come. 

 The Mayor of Nottingham performed that duty, being escorted 

 from the Castle Lodge by the Council, ofiicers of the Society, 

 and Judges, and, arrived at the pavilion in the ground, he read 

 the following address : — 



Colonel Scott, my Lords and Gentlemen, Members of the Council 

 of the Koyal Horticultural Society, — It is my pleasure and privilege, 

 as Mayor of the borough of Nottingham, to offer yon, in the name of 

 the inhabitants of this district, a hearty welcome on the occasion of 

 your Exhibition in this Park. The peculiar nature of our manufac- 

 tures has been the means of creating and fostering among our artisans 

 a love of horticulture, as in its principal branch, periods of work, 

 followed by corresponding periods of leisure, have furnished them with 

 opportunities of cultivating this taste. The result has been that iii 

 the immediate neighbourhood of Nottingham more than ten thousand 

 gardens of small size are held principally by the workmen of the- 

 borough and suburbs, who find during the cessation of their own: 

 duties a relaxation that is at once invigorating to the body and elevat- 

 ing to the mind. We trust that your meeting in Nottingham Park 

 may strengthen and elevate this taste still further, and we hope that 

 while the Society is benefited pecuniarily, we may gain a corresponding 

 advantage by serving and trying to emulate the brilliant specimens of 

 horticultural excellence which your Society's influence collects. I 

 trust you will open an e hibition brilliart in its character and satisfac- 

 tory to us all in its results. 



Colonel Scott, the Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 replied as follows : — Worshipful Sir, — In the name of the Council and 

 Fellows of the Royal Horticultural Society, I thank yon most sincerely 

 for the kind welcome you have given us to-day. You have received 

 ns, indeed, with such great honour that we cannot suppose that it ia- 

 paid to ns as individuals, but only because we represent, as the parent- 

 Society, all those numerous societies which have sprung up in this 

 country, and which give so much delight and satisfaction to all en- 

 gaged in gardening. When first the idea of holding country shows- 

 was mooted, we feared to make the attempt single-handed, and for the 

 last four years we have supposed it unwise to separate ourselves from 

 the Eoyal Agricultural Society ; this year, however, we decided to adopt 

 a bolder policy, and determined to do what we could of our own 

 strength. Amongst the towns which invited us for this year the town 

 of Nottingham stood foremost and I n?ed not say that we did not 

 hesitate one moment in accepting the offer Nottingham made to ns. 

 It is well known to all the world, that whatever Nottingham under- 

 takes she carries out with vigour and determination. Whether it is 

 in the manufactures or horticulture it is the s ame ; and I may, perhaps, 

 even venture to say, that in politics you show the same vigour. I 

 believe that in horticultural matters some of your lambs become some- 

 thing like lions. I have noticed that among your allotment gardens, 

 which are so well managed and make so much noise in the world, the 

 chief man is a Knight of St. Ann's, and the best budder of Roses a 

 General Jack. All these symptoms are indications of vigour, which, 

 we thought, would lead to success if we came amongst yon, and from 

 what I have seeu so far, I believe our success will be as great as the 

 weather is glorious. I regret that the task of opening the Exhibition 

 has not fallen into worthier hands. The Duke of Bucclench, th& 

 President of our Society, is unfortunately prevented by military duties 

 from being present ; the Koyal Prince who is connected with the 

 Society, had received Her Majesty's commands to attend the State 

 ball to-night; and Mr, Wilson Saunders, one of our most honoured 

 members, and, as we consider him, the father of horticulture, is kept 

 away on account of ill-health. I am quite certain, however, that 

 although we have been disappointed in this respect, you will more 

 than make up any deficiencies on our part. From the vigour and 

 energy shown by Mr. Lowe in the position he holds as Local Secretary 

 — [cheers] — and we are glad to be able to claim him also as oae of 



